Because of the position the Utah Jazz are in, Will Hardy will be their head coach for a while. Strictly speaking, he has been impressive thus far with how he's utilized the talent at his disposal, and no one in their right mind would say that what's transpired for the past three years is squarely on him.
After the Jazz didn't have a discernible direction for Hardy's first two seasons as coach, they finally picked one and started tanking this season. Because the Jazz are intentionally bad and likely will be again next season (and who knows how much longer they will be this way), Hardy will likely keep his job by virtue of low expectations going forward.
However, that doesn't mean he'll get automatic infinite immunity in Utah. At one point or another, the Jazz will start trying to make the playoffs, and when they do, the spotlight will be on what Hardy truly is capable of when he's handed a playoff team.
Hardy has shown enough that fans should be optimistic about how he fares when he has a team built for the playoffs. At the same time, the latest news regarding Grizzlies coach Taylor Jenkins shows that the window to prove himself won't be open forever.
Taylor Jenkins firing demonstrates that Hardy's leash will only be so long
In the most shocking news since the Mavericks actually traded Luka Doncic to the Lakers, Shams Charania reported that the Grizzlies fired Taylor Jenkins while very much in the thick of the playoff race with very few games left in the regular season.
The Memphis Grizzlies have parted ways with head coach Taylor Jenkins.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) March 28, 2025
It wasn't too long ago that the Grizzlies were seen as, as the kids say, "Next up." They were on the rise as the West's next contender. Sure, there had been some hiccups along the way, but it felt like Jenkins was the maestro of the next perennial West contender, and now, he's not.
The funny thing is, Memphis has had a pretty good season, all things considered, following one in which pretty much everything went wrong. There hasn't been an explanation for why they did this, but perhaps their lack of progress since coming onto the scene may have convinced them it was time for a change.
No matter why they fired Jenkins (and it's still pretty shocking considering how late in the season it is), the message is simple: They only had so much patience with Jenkins before they decided his time was up. Whether fans agree or disagree, Memphis believed this was their best move (then again, the Mavericks inexplicably traded Doncic, and it still doesn't make sense).
While it's not like Jenkins' firing ties into Hardy's future with the Jazz at all, his firing shows that teams will only have so much patience with coaches even as good as he is until they, too, decide that they will need to go into a different direction.
Even if the Jazz vault themselves up higher in the conference in the coming years, if they hit a ceiling that's not good enough for a title, Hardy will likely share the same fate as Jenkins. While the Jazz coach won't have to worry about this for some time, days like these serve as a reminder of a harsh reality for coaches trying to build winners.